Get Fit Without Comparing Yourself to Others

Are you the most ripped person you know? I know I’m not, but that doesn’t stop my pursuit of getting fit. While I do believe envy can be a great motivator here are four tips to get fit without comparing yourself to others.

by gSquare

I got this idea from reading a post about How To Blog Without Comparing Yourself to Others on Problogger. As I read about blogging I couldn’t help but see the parallels to fitness.

#1 – Just Let Go

At some point we all need to realize that we are individuals. Our health, our fitness, our bodies are … our own. We are the only one built the way we are. By comparing ourselves to others we can get fixated on wanting to become someone else; instead of being ourselves.

So let go, learn from others, shape your desires, and your efforts. But be yourself. Consider how the blog post compares Martin Luther King Jr. to Mahatma Gandhi.

Another example, Martin Luther King Jr. studied Mahatma Gandhi and his quest to achieve peace. Again, this is good, but did MLK then become frustrated with himself because Gandhi did things better than him? No, King learned about Gandhi, and then did things his own way.

Learn from others, use envy as a motivator, but let go.

#2 – Comparison Trap

Getting stuck comparing yourself to others can cripple you with fear. In competitive sports if you spend all your time comparing yourself to others you undoubtedly get stuck. By focusing on the competitors you can get stuck and be unable to perform. The same can happen if you get stuck comparing yourself to your team mates who are competing for positions in the starting line-up.

The real trap that will ensnare you every time you compare your blog to another blog is fear: fear that this blog will somehow overtake you and reach your goals faster than you.

Don’t get stuck in a trap by focusing too long on other people; avoid the comparison trap.

#3 – Fitness for Fitness Sake

I’ve said before that we shouldn’t strive to fit fitness into life; rather find ways to fit life into fitness. Be active in all you do; enjoy fitness for fitness sake.

Did Leo Babauta of ZenHabits need to be a mega-blogger? No, he blogged because he loved to blog, and success happened anyway. Even if Leo only got 100 subscribers after two years, I don’t think that would have derailed him. So find something that you enjoy blogging about. Whatever it may be, I’m sure it’s got the potential to be successful anyway.

To stay fit for a lifetime find a form of fitness that you truly love. By building fitness for fitness sake into you life the rewards compound: you do something you enjoy and it builds your fitness in a lasting way.

#4 – Your Fitness is You

How you live life is you the amount of time you spend on your health and fitness can only make your life better (and longer). But all of those decisions are yours. Those decisions create the image you are known for, in many ways your fitness is your “avatar”.

Whatever you write about, realize that your blog is your “avatar” in a way. It’s how you’re going to be recognized by the online community, it’s how you’re going to be marked and labelled.

Just like the article claims that a blog becomes the bloggers “avatar”, the same is true of your decisions about fitness. Think about it for a while. Think through your co-workers, neighbors, or friends. Quickly you know who is a runner, you know the gym rat, you know the cyclist. Their love of fitness has become part of their identity.

Your fitness is you.